Oil gains as trade talk optimism offsets potential higher Venezuelan supply
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices rose on Friday as trade talk optimism supported the outlook for both the global economy and oil demand, outweighing news of the potential for more oil supply from Venezuela.
Brent crude futures touched a one-week high and was up 29 cents, or 0.42%, at $69.47 a barrel as of 0310 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 29 cents, or 0.44%, to $66.32.
Oil, along with stock markets, gained support from the prospect of more trade deals between the U.S. and trading partners ahead of August 1, when the U.S. will impose new tariffs on goods from an array of countries.
The United States announced a trade deal with Japan on Wednesday, after which two European diplomats said the European Union was moving toward a deal involving a baseline 15% U.S. tariff on EU imports plus possible exemptions.
"Trade talk optimism appears to be offsetting expectations for stronger Venezuelan supply," ING analysts wrote in a client note on Friday.
The U.S. is preparing to allow partners of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, starting with U.S. oil major Chevron, to operate with limitations in the sanctioned nation, sources said on Thursday.
Venezuelan oil exports could consequently increase by a little more than 200,000 barrels per day, which would be welcome news for U.S. refiners as it would ease tightness in the heavier crude market, ING analysts wrote.
So far this week, Brent has gained 0.4% and WTI has fallen 1.4%.
Both contracts advanced around 1% on Thursday driven by reports of cuts to Russian gasoline exports.
Also supporting the market were U.S. crude inventory draws.
U.S. Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday showed crude inventories fell last week by 3.2 million barrels to 419 million barrels, far more than the 1.6 million barrel draw estimated by analysts in a Reuters poll. [EIA/S]
"I am encouraged by the way crude oil held and bounced away from the $65/64 support band this week, which keeps hopes intact of a rebound back towards $70," said IG analyst Tony Sycamore, adding that next week will bring data for traders to chew over.
Economic data next week from the world's biggest economies and oil consumers include factory activity in China and U.S. inflation, jobs and inventories.
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Hindustan Times
14 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Forget Cartier: Made-in-China Luxury Captivates Chinese Consumers
Well-off Chinese used to chase Western luxury bags and jewelry as symbols of status. Now, in a challenge to the likes of Cartier and Yves Saint Laurent, they are turning to homegrown brands. Little-known in the West, names such as Laopu, Mao Geping and Songmont are winning over Chinese customers with a pitch that combines locally inspired designs and cultural pride. Beijing auditor Zhou Linanfang, 35, noticed long lines outside a store selling Laopu gold jewelry from her hospital room last year when she was about to give birth. Her social-media feeds added to the buzz around the brand. Zhou, like many in her generation, considered gold jewelry unfashionable but changed her mind after seeing the filigree flower rings, gourd-shaped pendants and phoenix hairpieces in Laopu designs. Soon after the arrival of her baby boy, her husband lined up at a Laopu store in Beijing for an hour to buy her a butterfly-shaped pendant for $1,600. 'It's just stylish,' Zhou said. 'Now that we have luxury gold pieces, as someone who loves fashion, how could I not get one?' Also taking notice are Western luxury-brand CEOs such as Johann Rupert, chairman of Cartier parent Richemont. He was asked in May whether Laopu was a threat. The brand is 'tied to nationalism and tied to patriotism, and they have a lot of wins in their favor,' Rupert said. However, he added, 'Cartier is universal.' For Hermès, the resale value of its bags remains an advantage over Chinese rivals. Sales of luxury products in mainland China, mostly Western brands, fell around 20% last year to less than $50 billion, according to consultants at Bain. They said China accounted for about one in eight dollars spent on luxury globally. For the year ended March 2025, Richemont's sales in China fell 23%. Laopu listed its shares in Hong Kong last year and its stock surged, giving the company a market capitalization of more than $15 billion. By contrast, shares of Gucci owner Kering have declined more than 20% compared with a year earlier as the China growth hopes that formerly drove luxury shares have faded. In June, NBA player Victor Wembanyama was seen wearing Laopu's signature gourd-shaped pendant at a sports-card show in New York after visiting China. Uncertain economy Zhou said she liked the idea of buying gold jewelry because it might retain its value better in an era of growing economic uncertainty. She said she no longer bought a luxury handbag or jewelry every six months like she used to. 'I might lose my job tomorrow, so I definitely need to cut back,' she said. Laopu's chairman, Xu Gaoming, told shareholders in April that the company has carved out a niche with little direct competition. Chinese gold jewelry makers aim for the mass market, while European fine jewelers don't specialize in gold. Laopu's black-and-white stores offer a minimalist ambience, while pampering customers as they wait with Evian water and Godiva chocolate. A Laopu store in Beijing. As those perks suggest, European brands still have a cachet that is hard to match. People in the luxury business said the Chinese brands might even serve as a feeder to get younger consumers interested in luxury. Vanessa Piao, a luxury-bag reseller in China, said more buyers are treating their purchases as an investment, and they often prefer prestigious names such as Hermès, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. 'They are happy to pay $20,000 for a Birkin 25 because they can resell it in a few years without losing much,' Piao said, referring to the Hermès bag. 'They won't pay that money for a luxury bag or any fashion item from a domestic brand, no matter how exquisite and rare it is, because that, to some, is the equivalent of throwing $20,000 down the drain.' Big names, big prices Sophia Zhang, 32, was a loyal customer of Lancôme and Estée Lauder until she became a fan of Mao Geping, the namesake brand of a Chinese makeup artist. Its cream and foundation typically cost half or less the price of the international brands. A 100-gram jar of its signature moisturizer costs $139, compared with $280 for a smaller jar of a top-of-the-line Lancôme moisturizer. 'In the past I figured I'd splurge on skin care, believing those big names were the best, and I'd dismiss local products just because they were cheaper,' said Zhang, who, like Zhou, said she still buys some European brands. Now that she has found a less-expensive alternative that suits her, she said, 'it'll be tough to go back.' Backstage at a Mao Geping show during Beijing Fashion Week. China is also developing some accessible luxury brands priced comparably to Coach and Michael Kors. One is Songmont, known for its simple and modern designs in products such as a $529 shoulder bag. Twelve-year-old Songmont was co-founded by Fu Song and Wang Jie, designers who graduated from China's top art schools. Some of their first products, with Chinese brocade linings depicting auspicious Chinese motifs like dragons, phoenixes and butterflies, were fashioned by Fu's grandmother and other craftspeople in western Shanxi province. Like many other niche brands around the world, Songmont emphasizes sustainability and its sourcing of threads and oils for its leather bags from Germany and Italy. Its stores incorporate pine trees and rocks, and it brought on tennis star Li Na to promote the brand to channel a bold vibe. The next question is whether the Chinese brands can go global. Shein and Temu have succeeded in e-commerce with rock-bottom prices on mostly Chinese-made goods, and some Americans have taken to Labubu, the viral troll-like toy from China's Pop Mart. Laopu, the jewelry retailer, opened its first overseas store in Singapore in June and will venture to Japan next, but a person close to the company questioned whether Western consumers were ready to embrace marketing based on traditional Chinese culture and aesthetics. Bain consultant Claudia D'Arpizio said Labubu's success suggested Gen-Z consumers were open to buying Chinese. However, she said, 'for more of the core high-end luxury customers in the U.S. and in Europe, made-in-Europe is still very important.' Write to Shen Lu at Forget Cartier: Made-in-China Luxury Captivates Chinese Consumers Forget Cartier: Made-in-China Luxury Captivates Chinese Consumers
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First Post
14 minutes ago
- First Post
Milking it: How mothers in US, UK are making around Rs 69,000 a day selling breast milk
It's the ultimate side hustle. Many women in the United States and the United Kingdom are selling their breast milk at a premium after seeing a demand for it in the market. And they are raking in the moolah — some earn Rs 69,000 to Rs 86,000 a day, depending on how much they can pump read more Many women in the US and UK are selling their breast milk online and raking in the moolah. Representational image/Reuters We all know about side hustles and moonlighting. Across the world, people are taking up side hustles to make an extra buck. But there are many who are quite literally milking their side hustles. What are we talking about? We are talking about a growing number of new mothers in the United States as well as the United Kingdom who are doing just that: stockpiling their breast milk, selling it online, and cashing in big time. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And this milk business is no small joke — some of these 'mammas' are minting over $1,000 (Rs 86,628) a day in profit by selling their naturally available milk to other women and in some cases even bodybuilders, who believe that breast milk is the best to pump those biceps up. Mammas' big milk businesses Meet Keira Williams, a 31-year-old NICU nurse from Atlanta in the US. She started selling her breast milk in May and since then sold more than 103 litres of it. And the money she has made from the business? She told the New York Post, 'I have made $800 (Rs 69,302) in just one day.' She further noted in the same report that she began this business by using Facebook groups to make connections. But Williams isn't alone. Thirty-three-year-old Emily Enger, a teacher from Minnesota, is also in the breast milk business. She started selling her milk when she noticed a lot of social pressure about breastfeeding, telling The Times, 'I feel like we started hearing about the positives of breastfeeding and I was like, OK, let's do this.' Most of the women who are selling their breast milk are doing it to make extra money. Representational image/AFP Today, Enger has been able to make $1,000 or more depending on how much she pumps. 'At first I thought 'I have this milk sitting there in the freezer, I might as well just give it away',' Enger told The Times. 'But then I thought, well you go to the store and you buy a gallon of milk or you go to the store and you buy formula. You can't go into a hair salon, for example, and expect a free haircut. Time and, literally, energy has gone into producing milk. That should be valued.' And the trend of selling breast milk isn't just restricted to the US. In the UK too, many new moms are bagging and selling their breast milk for a premium. A woman, who identified as just Emily in a Daily Mail report, said of her job, 'I'm a stay-at-home mum due to childcare expenses, and having worked in childcare myself and being on minimum wage I would have barely even had enough money after paying childcare costs. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'If men or women are willing to pay me to use my breast milk, which is great for everyone, contains amazing properties that are beneficial for all ages, then I would definitely just make some money from what I produce for free.' Another said that she sells her milk so that she can stay longer at home without losing sleep over losing her salary. 'I'm selling my extra breast milk because it's extra money that may help to fund one to two months extra after my maternity pay ends.' Breastfeeding movement — the fuel behind it But what's the reason these women are willing to pump, bag and sell their breast milk. While many of them are doing it for extra money, they note that there's been a rise in breast milk owing to the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement powered by Robert F Kennedy Jr. The US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has ordered an investigation on baby formula in the US, owing to which many new mothers to rethink what they are feeding their young and, in turn, cause a growth in demand for their breast milk. On TikTok and other social media platform, a lot of discussion is on 'breast is best' in which mothers, and experts espouse the benefits of breast milk over everything else. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD There are a lot of discussions online emphasising the benefits of breast milk for babies that has put led women to sell their breast milk online. Representational image/AFP This has put a lot of pressure on those who are unable to produce enough milk or who are undergoing treatments during lactation. For instance, there's a Facebook group called Breastmilk Community for All, which has 33,000 members. It is full of appeals from mothers who say they would rather their child have a stranger's milk than store-bought formula. 'It was always my plan to breastfeed but I take medication that makes it unsafe,' Briana Westland, a member from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who spends around $1,200 a month to buy breast milk, told The Times. 'Obviously fed is best but you can't beat the nutritional quality of human milk, no matter what anyone says.' The ultimate pump But it's not just mothers who are wanting to buy breast milk. Much of the demand comes from bodybuilders, who hail it to be a 'super food' of sorts — perfect for pumping up their muscles. Referred to as 'liquid gold,' many bodybuilders note that breast milk has all the nutrients in order to achieve muscle gains and get into shape. In fact, the Netflix series (Un)Well even expanded on this idea, with James 'JJ' Ritenour, an amateur bodybuilder saying, 'If I wanna grow and be the best that I can, I'm going to eat like a baby, I'm going to sleep like a baby, and if drinking breast milk is a part of that, than it's definitely an edge I'm going to take advantage of.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A lot of the demand for breast milk comes from bodybuilders who believe that it is a 'super food' that can help build muscle faster. Representational image/Pixabay Speaking on this notion that breast milk is the answer to get ripped, Brian St Pierre, a sports dietitian with Precision Nutrition, told Men's Health, 'I think the idea behind drinking breast milk for muscle growth is that it's incredibly calorie and nutrient dense, and it has some additional healthy substances. 'Breast milk is designed to rapidly grow a human baby, so maybe people think a similar effect will happen to fully grown humans?' However, many fitness experts argue that drinking breast milk offers no value at all. 'There is nothing specific in breastmilk that will cause adults to gain muscle mass,' Dr Jacques Mortiz, the director of the division of gynaecology at Mount Sinai Roosevelt in New York, told ABC News. Health concerns remain However, there are legal and health ramifications to this side hustle and women who are trying to milk it to the maximum. Many medical experts have sounded the alarm on this business, saying the milk could be contaminated and pumping extra milk could be harmful to the women. Rachel Watson, a lactation consultant, warned that pumping excess breast milk to sell could be detrimental to the mother and baby. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Pumping an extra 60 ounces a day, for example, is not normal. Women can get all sorts of problems from over pumping, including mastitis, nipple blebs, nipple trauma, and the microbiome gets disrupted in the breast. 'Your body is not designed to produce one more drop than your baby needs, so it's not physiologically normal to be doing this. And freezing also reduces the amount of fat, calories, and micronutrients in the milk,' she was quoted as telling the Daily Mail. Medical experts also note that in most cases of breast milk being sold online, there's been disease-causing bacteria. In some cases, breast milk had infectious disease, while in others there were environmental contaminants. In fact, a study conducted by Nationwide Children's Hospital in found that out of 101 samples of breast milk purchased online, 10 per cent of them was adulterated with cow's milk or baby formula. Moreover, 75 per cent of the samples had pathogenic or disease-causing bacteria/viruses in it. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD But all of this hasn't stopped the many mothers who have chosen this to be their side hustle. As Megan Lemmons from Los Angeles was quoted as saying, 'It's the most empowering, beautiful thing I've ever done in my entire life. I'm proud of my milk money.' With inputs from agencies
Time of India
14 minutes ago
- Time of India
Chinese consumer complaints show widespread padding of car sales figures
A tactic used by Chinese automakers and dealers to inflate car sales has grown increasingly common in recent years in response to a bruising price war in the world's largest auto market, a Reuters analysis of consumer complaints has found. Earlier this month, Reuters reported EV brands Neta and Zeekr had arranged for cars to be insured before buyers purchased them, a scheme that effectively inflates sales numbers and gives the appearance the companies were hitting periodic targets. But the controversial tactic was not limited to the two companies and was employed elsewhere in the industry, according to a Reuters review of 97 separate consumer complaints published on three widely used Chinese websites. In more than a dozen cases, buyers said they were informed by dealerships that the practice was specifically designed to meet sales targets. The allegations cover some of China's largest domestic and foreign brands by sales volume, including homegrown champion BYD and Toyota, Volkswagen and Buick. The three foreign brands operate their China businesses in partnerships with state-owned giants GAC and SAIC Motor Group . While the earliest complaints date back to 2021, the majority were published this year and last as a price war squeezed an industry crucial to China's export-driven economy. Reuters reviewed complaints posted on a third-party site used for consumer dispute resolutions, and two other similar sites. The platforms require owners to verify their identity and submit proof of their allegations. In most of the cases reviewed, the automakers responded publicly, saying they sought to resolve problems. Reuters was not able to independently verify the complaints or their resolutions. It is not clear what portion of China's car sales were inflated by the insurance scheme. SAIC, which is a China joint venture partner for Volkswagen and Buick-owner General Motors, said it is committed to providing users with high-quality and standardised sales services but did not elaborate. The practice effectively disguises how much inventory automakers actually held, said Yale Zhang, managing director at consultancy Automotive Foresight. "That could lead to a misjudgment of monthly demand within the industry and result in increased production scheduling," Zhang said. Consumer anger Between 2021 and 2025, 48 separate buyers said on that they purchased new cars only to later discover they were already insured by the dealer. Many of the buyers said they felt deceived by the dealerships, especially when they realised the insurance on their cars was registered in other names. Likewise, there were 26 separate complaints published between 2021 and 2025 on the 315 auto consumer complaint platform, run by the state-owned China Internet Information Center. Another 23 were posted between 2022 and 2025 on Black Cat, a widely used consumer complaint platform run by tech firm Sina. In 14 complaints on the three platforms, buyers of BYD-, Neta-, Toyota-, Buick- and Chevrolet-branded cars said they were told by dealers the practice was aimed at booking sales early to meet targets. One complaint, filed in December against a SAIC GM dealer on alleged the automaker required 60 cars to be insured without buyers to meet sales targets. Another complaint on filed in April alleged a BYD store in Shaanxi told a buyer it had 12 cars insured in a batch to inflate sales last July. Buyers of Li Auto, Changan, FAW-Volkswagen and Geely also reported cars being insured pre-purchase. A Volkswagen Group China spokesperson said it refused to boost sales figures through insurance and that complaints would be investigated. Dealer complaints Separately, Reuters identified 29 official media reports from 2020 to 2025 that detailed complaints against dealers of major brands, including BYD and Changan and foreign brands Volkswagen, GM, Toyota, Nissan and Honda, run by their joint ventures with state-owned Chinese automakers. The media outlets, across 15 provinces and cities, are controlled and owned by the regional governments. In nine cases, dealers representing FAW Hongqi, SAIC Roewe, SAIC VW, Dongfeng Nissan, GAC Toyota, GAC Honda and SAIC GM told official media that insuring unsold vehicles was for booking purchases early to meet sales targets. A Honda spokesperson said that GAC Honda prohibits dealers from taking out compulsory insurance before selling new cars and that any dealers found doing so would be dealt with severely. FAW Hongqi said it does not use insurance plans to pre-confirm sales and any such activity was not official company action. GM China said it does not require wholesale vehicles to be insured pre-purchase and that it counts deliveries, not insurance, in its sales reports. BYD, GAC Toyota, Geely, Changan, Nissan and Li Auto did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters also identified five articles published by Chinese courts between March 2023 and March 2025 about consumers taking dealers to court for concealing pre-purchase car insurance. In three of those, the court ruled for the buyers who demanded compensation. Verdicts for the other two were not publicised. 'ZERO MILEAGE' Vehicles booked as sold before reaching buyers are called "zero-mileage used cars" in China. The practice emerged out of the cut-throat competition as the market deals with a years-long price war caused by chronic overcapacity. More than 100 car brands are competing intensely to survive consolidation, deepening pressure to bolster sales and take market share. Analysts and investors that track the industry use two sets of data. Wholesale figures reported by automakers to the industry association show sales from automakers to dealers, while retail data compiled from mandatory traffic insurance registrations show the number of sales to users. Accusations of selling cars with existing insurance policies date back to 2016 when a Cadillac buyer told a regional radio programme he found the car was insured before his purchase. The practice appears to have picked up after the price war started in early 2023, when several brands led by Li Auto started posting weekly sales rankings on social media based on insurance registrations. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has criticised such postings as unreliable and this month blamed them for intensifying "vicious" competition.
